Quick and easy vegetarian recipe for Biryani! A fragrant Indian rice and chickpea dish infused with Indian spices – vegan adaptable and gluten-free. A quick and easy weeknight meal.
The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.~ Brene Brown
This recipe for Biryani requires only 15 minutes of hands-on-time before it gently simmers on the stovetop, relatively hands-free. Biryani, if unfamiliar, is an Indian staple, made with rice that varies greatly from region to region, often made with chicken. Here is another authentic recipe for Chicken Biryani, if you’d like to go that route.
This version is totally meatless, made with veggies and chickpeas- and can be made very quickly using white basmati rice. As it simmers, fragrant Indian spices infuse the house with goodness. Serve this with flavorful Cilantro Mint Chutney which is vegan adaptable!
How to Make Vegetarian Biryani! | 30-second video!
Biryani starts with browning the onions, creating the base of the flavorful dish.
The best way cook biryani is to cover the simmering rice with a thin kitchen towel, folding the edges up over the lid. This helps create a good seal and allowing the rice to cook more evenly.
When it’s done, the rice with be perfectly cooked and fluffy.
Sprinkle with toasted cashews, raisins and cilantro.
Serve with a side of cilantro mint chutney!
Vegetarian Biryani- so simple yet full of great flavor!
If you are looking for a more traditional Indian-style biryani recipe, like I mentioned before, make sure to try this Chicken Biryani recipe -it’s really delicious! It’s perfect for a Sunday when you have time to be in the kitchen for a couple of hours.
What to serve with Biryani?
- Naan Bread
- Palak Paneer
- Indian Spinach Salad with Lentils & 038; Cauliflower
- Bombay Carrot Salad
- Raita!
- Mint Chutney
- Aloo Gobi
- Authentic Chai!
- Chai Cookies!
Hope you enjoy!
RELATED: 20 Vegetarian Recipes ( for fall)!
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Quick and Easy Vegetarian Biryani Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: vegan, vegetarian, main
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Quick and Easy Vegetarian Biryani! A fragrant Indian rice dish infused with Indian spices – vegan adaptable and gluten-free. A quick and easy weeknight meal. | Serve it with Cilantro Mint Chutney.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white basmati rice (see notes for brown basmati)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or sub ghee or coconut oil)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup diced carrot ( or use match sticks)
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated or use ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin ( or whole seeds)
- 1 tablespoon coriander (or whole seeds, cracked open)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or one cinnamon stick)
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (or 3 crushed cardamom pods)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 star anise pod (optional)
- 4 cups veggie stock ( or chicken stock)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Garnish: 1/4 cup cashews and chopped parsley or cilantro
Serve with Cilantro Mint Chutney (vegan adaptable!)
Instructions
Soak rice in a bowl of hot water while you prep ingredients.
In a large skillet, or shallow Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, until tender and golden, 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, add the veggies, garlic and ginger, and saute 4-5 minutes. Remove one cup of the mixture and set aside.
Add spices and bay leaf, and stir one minute, toasting the spices. Drain the rice and add it along with veggie stock and salt.
Top with chickpeas, raisins and the cup of veggies you set aside. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then lower heat to low. Cover the pot with a thin dish towel, then place the lid over the top of the towel, and bring the four corners of the towel up and over the lid. This will tighten the seal and keep the steam in, allowing the rice to cook more quickly and evenly.
Simmer on low 20-30 minutes or until the rice has soaked up the liquid. See notes.
While it is simmering make the Cilantro Mint Chutney
Uncover the Vegetarian Biryani and fluff up with a fork. Top with the toasted cashew and cilantro. Serve with optional Chutney.
Notes
***Instant or “Quick Cooking” Basmati Rice does not taste good here.
Basmati Rice: liquid to rice ratio may vary -please refer to your rice package instructions. For example, my basmati rice says 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. If yours says 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water, please adjust veggie stock accordingly.
Brown basmati rice may require 10 more minutes of cooking time and more liquid. Check package directions for cooking time and liquid requirements- adding more liquid if need be-each rice is different.
Variations: You are welcome to add other veggies to the biryani- here I’ve added thinly sliced sweet peppers. If you want to add chicken to this, make sure to season it well and brown it first before adding to the rice mixture to simmer.
Keywords: vegetable biryani, biryani recipe, vegetarian biryani, vegetarian biryani recipe,
So flavourful! I didn’t make the cilantro-mint chutney, but added fresh cilantro before serving, along with toasted cashews. The raisins added a nice hit of sweet. Family loved it!
★★★★★
Great to hear Sue!
This needed a lot of help. I didn’t have ingredients for the chutney so topped with sambal oelek and tamarind chutney- then, it was very tasty, but without the sauces, it was bland. I did have less salt than the original recipe (unsalted chickpeas, 2 C of broth was unsalted) but it didn’t seem critically low-salt, and I felt it could have used so much more seasoning and spice.
It also makes a HUGE amount. If you don’t have a very big family, half the recipe!
I’ll be making the chutney tomorrow and am sure the dish will taste great. Very kid-friendly, because : bland. If you love Indian food, expect to help this out by adding chutneys & hot sauce!
★★★
Sorry, this didn’t work for you, Amy. I do think the salt would help as well as the chutney.
I really liked this biryani! I used brown basmati rice that I soaked for a few hours first, so it did not need much more cooking time compared to white rice. The spice level was perfect for me, as was the amount of vegetables. Will probably use fewer raisins less time to make it a little less sweet. Served with mango chutney. Yum!
★★★★★
Perfect! thanks Rikke!
I had the same experience with good-quality basmati. Actually I looked at the “double the volume of water to soaked rice” instruction and realised it was crazy so I only used 1.5 cups of water per cup of rice but it was still too wet. The next time I used a little over 1.25 cups water per cup of rice (plus the water that naturally sticks to the rice when you soak it) and it was about right. I find this site very useful: https://tastessence.com/rice-cooker-ratio
The best course of action is to always refer to your rice directions on your package as each variety is different. See the recipe notes.
I like the recipe overall, but the rice turned out very mushy. I followed the directions and soaked it in hot water first, and then used a thin tea towel under the lid while simmering. It just has an awful texture. Maybe I need to buy a higher quality rice? Not sure what the issue is.
★★★
Hey Lisa- any chance you used “quick-cooking” basmati? I had the same experience with this type.
I happened upon this site when looking for vegan recipes this week. This was absolutely delicious with the cilantro mint chutney! Our guests loved it and we have leftovers for tonight and maybe tomorrow!
★★★★★
I made this, it was good, but some of the rice stuck to the bottom of the cast iron pan. Wonder if I should have lifted the lid and stirred it? Also, it made a HUGE amount of food, so six hungry guys might have polished it off. Tasty and aromatic and the naan was really good! I have to practice more, cuz I burned a couple and two of then were doughy inside a little (but I at ’em anyway!) Thanks for a nice recipe
★★★★
Shoot! Sorry. Normally, you shouldn’t have to stir. If your skillet was well-seasoned & well-oiled- then the only other thing I can think of is maybe it got too hot?
Made this tonight, with the mint yogurt. Delicious, thank you! 😊
Hello! This looks delicious! If I use a rice cooker, do I need to change anything in the recipe? Thank you
Hi, I’m inexperienced with rice cookers so have no useful advise here, sorry! Will you cook the rice first then proceed with recipe? or cook it all together in the rice cooker?
Do I use 2 cups of dry rice or cooked rice? Thanks!
Dry
Great flavours and so easy to make. It makes a great cold rice dish with the leftovers too
★★★★★
This recipe was amazing! we cooked it for ten minutes longer and added yellow squash. We served it with homemade persimmon chutney.
What are we supposed to do with the one cup of veggies that we removed? Add them in at the end?
Add it to the top- it is more of a “presentation” thing.